A pair of  lavender-blue 'Pomegranate' vases. Haorang Tang mark, Daoguang Period. Photo Sotheby's

each of globular form, the waisted neck terminating in five everted folds of the fruit's stem, slip-decorated with a leafy flowering bough and a small single blossom, covered overall in a lustrous lavender-blue glaze draining to a pale blue over the decoration and around the rim of the mouth, the footring unglazed for firing, the three-character mark in underglaze blue on the countersunk base, with wood stands (4). Height 3 1/3 in., 8.6 cm. Estimate 6,000-8,000 USD. Lot Sold: 104,500 USD

PROVENANCE: Collection of Mrs. Loretta Ng-Quinn Slaton (1922-2009) and thence by descent.

NOTE: Mr. Clyde and Mrs. Loretta Slaton were avid collectors of Chinese art. Mrs. Slaton was born in Hong Kong and met Mr. Slaton during the Sino-Japanese War when he was stationed in Kunming with the American Foreign Ministry. They had a magnificent wedding in 1947 in Hong Kong. Mrs. Slaton's family was well acquainted with the family of the late Soong Mei-ling who introduced her to many of the leading artists of the day and encouraged her to collect Chinese works of art.

There is a similar vase in the British Museum illustrated in Soame Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain, London, 1954, pl.CIV, 3c.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. New York | 20 Mar 2012 www.sothebys.com